


Thrice Defied

by SailorSol



Series: Children of Prophecy [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Aftermath, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Growing Up, Hogwarts Seventh Year, Introspection, Moving On, POV Female Character, Post-Canon, Post-War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-20
Updated: 2015-01-20
Packaged: 2018-03-08 09:39:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3204566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SailorSol/pseuds/SailorSol
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>But Tom has taken so much from her already, snatched away the innocence of her first year with honeysweet lies and cast a shadow over the rest of her years. She refuses, <em>refuses</em>, to let him take this from her, too.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Thrice Defied

**Author's Note:**

> Well, I guess today is a two-for-one deal. I'm not sure who's up next.

Ginny considered not returning to Hogwarts for her seventh year. She earned enough OWLs in her fifth year that it wouldn’t have been difficult to find a job, even without the rest of her recent notoriety. But Tom has taken so much from her already, snatched away the innocence of her first year with honeysweet lies and cast a shadow over the rest of her years. She refuses, _refuses_ , to let him take this from her, too.

The whole family—or at least, what remains of it, and she tries so hard not to think of that, not now—comes to see her off at Kings’ Cross. She cries as she hugs her mum like she’s a first year all over again, but this time she won’t have her older brothers with her.

She hadn’t the year before, either, but it feels different now. When she hugs George, she whispers in his good (only) ear that she’ll send him a toilet seat, and he laughs, short and brittle, but it gives Ginny hope.

* * *

She pats a thestral in greeting as she climbs into a carriage with Neville, Luna, and Hermione. Ginny remembers how she hadn’t yet been able to see them during that mad, frantic flight to the Department of Mysteries when she’d been fourteen.

She has seen Death now, stared him down and refused to give up without a fight. She has raged against him, for all those he has taken away from her. But she will not let her grief consume her.

* * *

She spends more time practicing Quidditch than she does spells. She’s captain of the team (the second Weasley to hold the title, but she’s thrilled to see her name engraved on the same plaque as Charlie’s) and they’ve a lot of work to do to train new members. She learns quickly that instincts honed in battle can be an asset on the pitch.

They lose their first game against Ravenclaw, but Ginny insists on a party anyway. It was a good game, and the team played well.

No one died, and that in itself is a victory as far as she’s concerned.

* * *

Ginny and Harry aren’t dating, not precisely; his time is filled with Auror training and hers with school and Quidditch. They meet in Hogsmeade sometimes, and they have a silent agreement not to see anyone else. They exchange letters when they can, and if they ever do pursue a longer relationship, Ginny knows it will be based in friendship first.

When he shows up for the second Quidditch match of the season and Gryffindor trounces Hufflepuff, she’s entirely unashamed to claim a victory kiss in the middle of the pitch. Harry’s ears turn pink to match her hair and they share a grin that makes Ginny feel like the seventeen year old she’s supposed to be.

Ron groans, Hermione punches his shoulder, and Neville and Luna exchange knowing looks.

* * *

After the Slytherin match, Gwenog Jones approaches Ginny and offers her a reserve spot on the Harpies. Ginny squeals in delight as Professor McGonagall offers her a proud smile.

For the first time since she was eleven, Ginny feels like she has an actual future ahead of her.

* * *

She sends George a toilet seat from the prefects’ bathroom.

He sends a photograph in return, the toilet seat hung with honor behind the shop counter like some sort of bizarre good luck charm. She takes the photo to Fred’s Swamp, then frames it and sticks it to the wall.

* * *

It’s her last day of school. She’s never truly been a child within these halls, not with Tom’s shadows lurking in every corner. But Hogwarts had seen Tom’s end as well as his beginning, had stood and fought and bore the scars just as Ginny herself did.

Tom had taken her childhood, but she was a woman now, and he would never, _never_ have that.


End file.
